Mom Tip: Re-Inventing Workouts

This is for the mom's that struggle with finding time to get in a workout. If you are like me and working out is more about getting those endorphins going with a little added benefit of burning some calories, but you struggle to find enough time to go the gym more than you would like to, then this post is for you!

There was a time early on in raising kiddos that I thought if I didn't make it to the gym a certain amount of days, I was failing at my health goals. But the weeks I was able to sneak in multiple extra gym times, I sometimes would feel guilty about taking time away from my kiddos. It was this push & pull and trying to balance it sometimes felt overwhelming.

I've always tried to stay consistent with some type of exercise, again for me it was more to get the mental release than it was the physical gain (that was just a bonus). But I knew as a mom, especially by the time I had my third kiddo, that I needed to find a way to mix it up and be creative on those days I couldn't pull away from home-life to get to the gym those extra times.

So in the mindset of being creative, I started putting on my apple watch during playtime with my youngest son. We loved doing dance party's and when I starting seeing how many calories those Super Simple Songs had me doing with their Roly Poly Roll Song (if you never watched & performed that song & dance, it's worth a try lol), I began to smile and give myself some credit that even though I wasn't at the gym, I was still burning a good amount of calories and getting my endorphin release!

I starting taking it even further and challenging my kiddo to dance/jog/run around the living room & kitchen with me until we "make it to 100 on mommy's watch!" Of course, 100 meant 100 calories, and I would set the fitness tracker to mixed cardio and off we'd go. The best part, my son thought this was the FUNNEST "game" EVER! He kept checking my watch, and we'd say "Okay we are to 50! Let's keep going, we got this!!" and we'd chase, run, dance, be silly, and occasionally take much needed 5 second breathers and water breaks lol.

The point of all of this....this is life! This is parenthood! And a workout doesn't have to just look like getting on gym clothes and hitting the treadmill & weights. Give yourself some grace on those weeks you can't cram in multiple gym sessions. And slap on that apple watch and enjoy getting creative with your little one, all while burning some calories and releasing some of the mental load. Hey, I've even done squat challenges while brushing our teeth, it all counts!